Michael Keats OAM

When I was growing up at Balmoral during WWII, the beaches and headlands provided a diversity of experiences, walking, climbing, swimming as well as opportunities to observe and question the natural world, rocks, plants, insects, reptiles and sea life.

Holidays were times of great experiences – whether it was the hills around Camden, the underground marvels of Jenolan Caves, or exploring the New England Ranges. My dad was a ‘shutter bug.’ There was nothing he liked... Read More

Brian Fox

In 2005 while researching place name origins for incorporation into my text, ‘Day Walks in Therabulat Country’, I came across a name on the Jenolan topographic map, that appeared to be way out of context with either Early European settlement or Aboriginal culture. The name was Cronje Mountain. Having exhausted my then network, including luminaries such as Wilf Hilder, I was referred to the NSW Geographical Names Board (GNB) as a possible source of information.

I had no ... Read More

Yuri Bolotin

Yuri is an explorer, bushwalker and environmentalist. He is also a director of BigCi (Bilpin international ground for Creative initiatives) – an artist residency organisation, as well as of Kenyan Kinship – an organisation that provides development resources to underprivileged communities in Africa.

Yuri grew up in Uzbekistan, where he was climbing the Tian Shan mountains since the high school age. He came to Australia in 1979 and had a career in marketing, business de... Read More

John Fox

Service above self is a concise and accurate description of how John Fox is perceived in the community.

Over a number of decades, he has volunteered his time in serving others in various activities, including 40 Hour Famine organiser, community festivals, feeding the marginalised and assisting with Meals on Wheels.

A former high school Maths teacher, John is deeply respected. When the Whitlam Government disbanded the School Cadet Corps program, John with four other teachers p... Read More